Portable photographic dark room.



W. E. BUGKLEY.

PORTABLE PHOTOGRAPHIG DARK ROOM.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 3, 1909.

Patented Feb. 22, 1910.

DREW B GRANAM cm PHOTO UTMOGRAPHEHS VIA mwwv 0 c WILLIAM E. BUGKLEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PORTABLE PHOTOGRAPI-IIG DARK ROOM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1910.

Application filed. May 3, 1909. Serial No. 493,691.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. BUOKLEY, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Photographic Dark Rooms, of which the following is a specification.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form of port-able photographic dark room, which is adapted to be easily carried about and readily set up for operation when desired; to provide an improved form of easing adapted to inclose the upper portion of the body of the operator so as to enable him to observe the progress of the developing process from the interior of the dark room, and to provide for the free and unhampered use of his arms in handling his materials; to provide means for ventilating such devices without admitting actinic light rays; and to provide a device of this class adapted to be folded up into small compass when notin use, and which, when folded, may be used for carrying other apparatus.

A specific construction embodying this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical, central section of a portable dark room embodying this invention, and showing it set up and in use. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same in closed position. Fi 3 is an enlarged sectional dctail of one o the ventilators.

In the construction shown in said drawings, the casing 1 comprises rigidly connected top, bottom and end walls, preferably in the form of an ordinary suit case. The front wall 2 of the casing is attached at its lower edge to the bottom of the casing by means of hinges 3 which adapt it to be opened outwardly for the purpose of afiording access to the interior of the casing when inserting or removing the material to be used for developing photographic plates. Said wall is formed to afford light tight joints with said top, bottom and end walls when in closed position, and is provided with a ruby or other colored window light 4 to admit only non-actinic light. Catches 5 of any suitable construction are carried on the top of the casing and at the upper margin of the wall 2, and act to hold said wall in closed position. The rear side of the easing is also open and has a closure or wall 6 attached at its lower edge to the bottom of the casing by means of hinges 3 and is adapted to open outwardly. Said wall is preferably constructed in two sections eX- tending longitudinally of the casing, and which are hinged together by means of hinges 7 to permit the upper section to fold outwardly and downwardly against the lower section, and to lie beneath the lower section when the wall is open, as shown in Fig. 1. Catches 5 are also provided on the upper margin of the rear wall 6 and the top of the casing and act to secure said rear wall in closed position.

The pan 8, which serves as the operating tray or table, is hinged at one edge to the bottom of the casing, adjacent to the front wall 2, by means of hinges 9, and when the device is not in use this pan is adapted to lie in a vertical position against the front wall 2, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. When the rear wall is in open position said pan may be turned down to a horizontal position, as shown in the full lines in said figure, in which position it rests at its inner margin on its hinges with its bottom spaced above the bottom of the casing, and with its outer portion resting on said rear wall.

A tubular hood 10, of black cloth or other flexible material opaque to actinic light, is secured at its inner end between a stop or frame 11 and the top, bottom and end walls of the casing, and is of suflicient size to inclose the upper portion of the body of the operator. Said hood is preferably provided at its outer end or mouth with an elastic cord or draw-string adapted to hold it closely about the operators waist to prevent the admission of light. When not in use the hood may be inserted into the casing to permit the rear wall to be closed.

Ventilators l2 and 13 are provided in the top and bottom respectively of the casing, and each comprises a tube 14: rigidly secured in and extending through the wall of the casing, and having a cap 15 at each end adapted to admit air but prevent the admission of light. Said caps are of larger diameter than the tubes and may be supported in place in any desired manner, but, as shown, those of the upper ventilator and the outer one of the lower ventilator are secured to the tubes by means of pins 16 eX- tending through the caps and tubes, while the inner cap of the lower ventilator is preferably carried on the bottom of the pan, and

when the pan is in its operative position said cap incloses the inner end of the tube, but is out of contact therewith.

Legs 17 and 18 support the casing when it is in open position. The casing is provided on its top with a handle 19 by means of which it may be carried.

The operation of the device shown is as follows: hen it is desired to develop negatives or prints, the casing is set upon a table or other convenient support and the rear wall is opened to a horizontal position. The hood 10 is then withdrawn, the front wall 2 is then opened, and the pan is turned down to a horizontal position where it projects into the hood and rests on said rear wall. The developing materials, negatives, and the required apparatus are then placed within the casing and the front wall is then closed. The operator then inserts the upper portion of his body into the hood, as illustrated, and makes sure that the outer end or mouth of the hood fits closely about his body so as to prevent the admission of light. The ventilators permit a circulation of air through the casing. The glass, or other transparent panel, of the window 1 admits to the casing light from which the actinic rays have been eliminated. Owing to the fact that the head and arms of the operator are inclosed in the hood he is in position to watch the progress of the developing process as well as though he were in a stationary dark room, and his hands are equally as free to perform the various operations. The tray serves to catch any liquids which may be spilled from the chemical t *ays, and this avoids soiling of the bottom of the casing and hood.

hen the device is in closed position, there is room in the casing to store and carry materials and apparatus.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown it will be understood that numerous details of the construction may be varied or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a portable dark room, a casing comprising end walls and a top and a bottom wall, a door hinged to the bottom wall of the casing and constituting the front wall, a door hinged to the bottom wall. of the casing and constituting the rear wall thereof, a hood open at both ends having one end received within the casing and engaging the top, end and bottom walls thereof, and a frame within the casing engaging the hood fixedly securing the inclosed end there of to said top, end and bottom walls.

2. A portable dark room, comprising a casing open at the front and rear, a hinged closure for the open rear end of the casing, a hood secured at one end within the open rear end of the casing so as to form an extension thereof and adapted to extend, out of the casing when said closure is open. -said hood having a mouth adapted to admit the upper portion of the operator's body and form a light tight joint therewith, and a front wall or door hinged to the casing for normally closing the front opening thereof.

3. A portable dark room, comprising a casing embodying end walls and a top and bottom wall and having a hinged rear wall. adapted to open outwardly, a hood adapted to tightly inclose the upper portion of the operator and tightly connected to the easing adjacent to the opening for said hinged wall, ventilators in said casing, a hinged front wall for said casing, a tray hinged in said casing and adapted to turn upwardly against said front wall when the rear wall is closed and to turn dmvnwardly to a horizontal position when the rear wall is open and be supported by said rear wall.

at. A. portable dark room, comprising a casing open at the front and rear, a sectional rear wall hinged to said casing and having the sections thereof hinged together, a tubular hood secured at one end to the casing adjacent to said rear wall and adapted to be extended from the casing when the rear wall is open, ventilators in the casing, each comprising a tube extending through the wall of the casing and having a cap over one end of the tube, and a tray hinged in the casing and adapted to be turned to a horizontal position when the rear wall is open and be supported in such position by said rear all.

A portable dark room con'iprising a casing having a hinged front wall. and a hinged rear wall, a col ored window light in one of said hinged walls, a hood tightly se cured in the casing adjacent to the other hinged wall and having an open outer end adapted to lit tightly about the body of the operator, ventilators in said casing, and a tray hinged to the bottom of the casing and adapted to swing upwardly against the front 'all when the rear wall is closed and to swing outwardly into the hood when the rear wall is open and serve as an operating table.

(3. A portable dark room comprising a casing open at the front and rear, a hinged front wall for said casing and having an aperture therein, a colored window light closing said aperture, a sectional rear wall hinged to the casing with the sections hinged together and adapted to open outwardly to a substantially horizontal position, a tubular hood secured in said casing about the rear open end thereof and having an open outer end adapted to fit closely about the body of the operator, a tray in said casing hinged to fold against the front wall. when the rear wall is closed and adapted to extend into the hood and rest upon the rear wall when the latter is open, ventilators for admitting air to said casing, and means carried by said rear wall for supporting the sections thereof When open in planes parallel with the bottom of said casing.

7. A portable dark room comprising a casing having a hinged front wall and a hinged rear wall, a flexible tubular hood adapted to fit closely at one end around the body of the operator and opening at its other end into said casing and fixedly secured thereto, and

a tray hinged in said casing and adapted to turn upwardly within the casing when the rear Wall is closed and to turn outwardly from the easing into the hood in front of the operator when the rear wall is open.

Signed at Chicago this 30th day of April 1909.

WILLIAM E. BUCKLEY. Vitnesses E. A. RUMMLER, MARY M. DILLMAN. 

